Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Another Topless Joint Bites the Dust (Maybe)

As I mentioned in January, the city's strip clubs have lost their final appeal against the licensing law that is attempting to zone them out of existence. Pretty much all the city has to do is prove that they are a sexually oriented business (SOB) and that they operate close to a church, school, or residential neighborhood, and they will be closed down. According to the Chronicle,

There are a 25 to 30 topless clubs operating in Houston, but only a handful have licenses, said Zummo, who helped defend a federal court challenge of the city’s sexually oriented business ordinance in 2006.

Lawyers for the city filed a lawsuit Friday to close a Galleria-area topless club for not having a sexually oriented business license, the beginning of a City Hall crackdown on dozens of unlicensed clubs across Houston.

The lawsuit followed the arrest Thursday evening of nine employees of All Stars Men’s Club, 2688 Winrock, including six dancers charged with solicitation of prostitution.

This is really kind of clever. You can be a licensed SOB if you follow the strict zoning rules. Consequently, few actual strip clubs bother to get a license. So if cops working undercover prove that they actually are an SOB, they can be be sued out of existence.

This particular club is across the street from the shuttered Penthouse Club, and owned by the same guy. It looks like the city is trying to bankrupt him. I wonder who he crossed?